The United Way of Central Maryland's Senior Vice President and Chief Principal Gifts Officer Holly Hoey called me in March 2018 to see if I'd be interested in painting children playing on the playground at one of the struggling schools in Baltimore City, a school that the United Way has been involved with, The Maree Garnett Farring Elementary School.

sketch of the playground composition, by Patricia Bennett

I was thrilled and honored to be thought of for this. The painting of these children playing was going to be used as the cover of the book for the generous people of the Tocqueville Society, a special group of donors to the United Way of Central Maryland.

My homework was to see the playground. The playground depicted would be at the Boys and Girls Club next to the school, as it was a very nice playground. Natalie Dixon showed me the area in April. I took photos and did sketches and figured out a design for the painting which fit the format of the book (the center of the painting was to be the spine of the book, so I made that a pole on the playset, and there needed to be symmetry to the activity in the painting.)

May 3, 2018 was the day. I arrived around 9:30am and started painting. I had an umbrella to keep off the sun. The children arrived with their teachers and Holly from the United Way and ran and played. It was a very hot day. They were extremely curious about the painting and enjoyed finding themselves and their classmates in it.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Thirtieth Birthday Party Live Painting at Oakdene in Baltimore County, September 10, 2016, painted by Patricia Bennett

I was really thrilled to paint this, honored to be hired. If you look closely you can see a horse on the right.

A lovely dinner with Beck n Call servers, Beck n Call is owned by Tammie Monaco, who is in the painting on the right. And the food and wine were provided by Wit and Wisdom, who are located at the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore, with their Sommelier present to explain the wines and spirits.

Process: Before the event I visited the space to determine with the host where the best place for me to set up would be. I needed to be out of the way of the dozen servers and wanted to center the focus on the star of the event. Centering the mantle seemed like the best option. I chose to leave out several feet of the room so that the view outside could be seen; Oakdene has a stunning view.

After the event I placed a missing important guest on the left of the host and added their dog, Pippa.